The last couple of weeks have seen in a rise in people moving from their offices to working from home due to government advice around Covid-19. For all of us this a strange, daunting period we are in but we must try to be as positive as possible. For some of us, working from home isn’t something that you are used to. The pull of the TV, the sofa or bed can be a huge distraction!! As a company that are based from home, we thought we’d share some tips for keeping productivity high.
Forbes have deduced that the mental wellbeing of employees is at risk due to isolation and burning out, concluding that ‘workplace mental health, now at home or the office, must be a priority for employers.’
Set up a workspace
If you can, try and allocate a space in your home as your office. It might be a small corner of your bedroom, a spare room or your kitchen table. For us, it’s important that we feel that we are ‘going’ to work. Working from our bed with our laptop just doesn’t feel like we’re being as productive as we should be. By having an allocated space, it also means that you can step away from it at the end of the day or when you have a break.
Keep a list
You know us – we LOVE a list! We’re not suggesting that you complete your list every single day. You wouldn’t do that when your in the office. So that it’s not completely overwhelming, take a note of 2 or 3 tasks that you simply MUST get done today. If you achieve this first, anything else will feel like a bonus
Take a break
This is really important! One of the common mistakes is just working through the day without taking a break when you’re alone at home. Think about it, when you’re at your office, you’ll stop to get a coffee and there will probably be someone else in the kitchen doing the same thing. You might take 5 minutes to have a quick chat. Take 5 minutes to mindfully make a cup of tea in the kitchen. If you are able to (bearing in mind social distancing and government announcements) take a walk around the block at lunchtime.
Turn off distractions
We don’t need to tell you that your phone is probably your greatest distraction. The pull to check either your business or personal social media can be huge! Getting alerts and notifications can be the biggest productivity killer. Try putting your phone on to Do Not Disturb or flight mode for just an hour allows you to focus on one particular task.
Work when you’re most productive
If you’ve got a conference call at a particular time, then you really need to be ready for work at that time. however, if you’re an earlier riser, you can get cracking on your inbox before the rest of the world has even considered logging in. Likewise, you might be a night owl. Save harder tasks for when you know you’ll be in the right frame of mind. Doing simpler tasks like phone calls or scheduling meetings can be done when you’re feeling less enthused about work but want to feel like you’ve achieved something.
What are your tips for working from home?
If you’re looking for some tips, helpful hints and advice to help free up your time, sign up to our newsletter
